A British hospital team who saved the life of an American army medic in 2014 was presented with her Invictus Games' gold medal by Prince Harry at a Kensington Palace ceremony.
Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Marks suffered a severe hip injury in 2010 during a deployment to Iraq where she served as a combat medic. She uses an IDEO (intrepid dynamic exoskeletal orthosis) on her left leg, a prosthetic device that makes it possible for her to walk, Marks explained to ESPN.
Marks was in London to compete in the inaugural Invictus Games, a Paralympic-style multi-sport event, when she became sick and received emergency care from Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire.
The 25-year-old swimmer returned to compete at the Invictus games in Orlando, Florida, last month, winning all four swimming events she competed in. After her 100m freestyle win, Marks gave Prince Harry her gold medal and asked him deliver it to the medical team that saved her life. [[381515541, C]]
"I'd talked to Prince Harry previously about finding a way to get that medal to Papworth," Marks told People magazine after the games. "I thought the one that was presented to me by him would mean the most. I wanted to thank them for saving my life."
On Wednesday, the British royal made good on his promise to Marks, personally thanking members of Papworth Hospital with the medal the American soldier earned.